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Transcript

TMG: Lunchbox Wars Erupt Over Oreo-Gate · Outspoken the Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the Mums Group you actually want
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: to be a part of. I'm Sophie Torber and I'm
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: joined by my sisters and journalists, Kate and Amy. Now, Kate,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: you are keeping a particularly close eye on your baby
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: monitor at the moment. Yes, I have reached the stage
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: where my son is trying to climb out of his cot. Fortunately,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: he has one of those love to dream sleeping bags on,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: so he can't quite... get his leg over the side
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: of the cot. But the other day he managed to
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: get up on the side of the dresser and it
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: was almost out of the cot. My husband had to
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: run into the room and we were like, no, because
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: all the advice I've seen is like, let your kid
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: stay in their cot as long as possible, at least
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: till two and a half.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Now Jack is two and two months.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: And I'm like, no, I don't want to put him
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: in a kid's bed, but I also obviously don't want
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: him falling out. Isn't it because toddlers at that age
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: have literally no self-control? So they'll just run out of
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: the bed as soon as they wake up and come
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: and try and find you. Yeah, that is exactly why
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: I don't want him in a bed. At the moment,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: we've managed to drop the base of the cot. So
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: his mattress is on the ground and we haven't had
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: any more attempts of him climbing out because it's too high.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: But we have ordered a toddler bed. And it's ready
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: to go just in case. God, I'm interested to see
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: how it will go because your life is literally exactly
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: one year ahead of mine. I get this taste of
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: what's to come. I've had an exciting week because I
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: have a new baby nephew. He is incredibly cute. And
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: it's made me realize that my son is now a toddler.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: I know that sounds silly, but I think as soon
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: as a newborn is around, you realize that, hey, my
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: baby isn't actually a baby anymore. He's walking, he's babbling.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: It also gives you perspective. You're like, wow, I have
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: come a long way.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: And it's lovely to have a newborn cuddle, but it's
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: also nice just to hand them back to the parents.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: I actually also have a new nephew that was born
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: a couple of weeks earlier. And I had the same thing.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: When we went to the hospital, I was like, when
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: did Jack become a teenager? Because he's always been the
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: youngest on my husband's side of the family. Well, he's
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: been the only grandchild on that side of the family
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: I'm like this is so weird but so nice at
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: the same time because you do miss the newborn cuddles.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: I've just become an emotional wreck since becoming a mum
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: because just seeing my nephew in the hospital blanket with
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: his little hands poking out it brought back so many
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: memories all I could think about was Luca at that
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: age and even though I found the newborn stage incredibly
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: tough you you start to romanticize it so if he's
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: ready for number two I don't know if I'm that
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: ready but it's exciting to have another baby in the
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: family well we got a bit of backlash people saying
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: that we were pushing the one and done lifestyle on
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: people a little bit too much yeah I mean it
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: was on influencer updates I was shocked to see that
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: I was people were complaining that we only talk about
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: having sons and we only talk about being one and
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: done Well, that's the other thing.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Having cesareans.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: But it's a bit hard because we only have sons.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: So it's a bit hard to talk about having a
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: daughter when you don't have one. In saying that, over Christmas,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: we are going to be interviewing some other mums. So
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: we'll hopefully be providing some other perspectives as well. Well,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: I'm gearing up for quite a long night because Dale
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: is away on work. So I've had Harry all day
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: and now all night and it's making me really feel
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: for single mums and dads out there. Like I just
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: don't know how people do it 24-7.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: They definitely need a medal, don't they? It's like Harry.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Knew that Dale was going to be away because he
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: woke up extra early this morning and I just thought, oh,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: my God, I've got like 13 to 14 hours of
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: doing this by myself.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: It's the worst when you do.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: The mental countdown and you're like, I shouldn't have done that.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: It's made me feel worse. Yeah, it is the worst
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: thing and it was quite funny because earlier today, I
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: had a few calls I had to make for a
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: PR client that Sophie and I are working with. And
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Harry had been quiet all morning, except when I had
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: to take these important calls. He was screaming in the
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: background and had to be like, I'm so sorry, that's
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: my 16 month old. And someone was like, oh, so
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: you're 16 year old. And I thought, well, I hope
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: it's not because I wouldn't want my 16 year old
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: screaming like a baby in the background. Some of them
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: are babies at that age, but I feel like for
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: a different reason.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: But it was just so awkward.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: And you know, when you apologize and they don't really
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: give you anything back. If you send your child to
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: school and you eat a particular way at home and
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: your child sees someone else eating something and they come
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: home crying, I don't think that that is the problem
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: of all the other parents, babes.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: That's your problem.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: A lunchbox war has broken out at an Australian school
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: after a mum demanded other parents stop packing sugary treats. Now, Kate,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: the saga went viral after one of the parents leaked
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the conversation from their mum's group chat.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: On social media. Diabolical.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Now, it was a mother called Ashley who goes by
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: the handle at Ashley Jams who shared screenshots from the
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: private group chat. Unsurprisingly, the exchange swiftly sparked debate with
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: a video racking up thousands of comments and over 12
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: million views across Instagram and TikTok. 12 million. Like sometimes
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: on this podcast we say it went viral. That is
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: definitely viral. I think we need to read at least
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: the start of the text message exchange to provide some
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: context to listeners. So... I am going to play the
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: part of Michelle, who is the mother who is not
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: happy about the sugary treats. So if you're going to
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: be Charlotte, the mum who sent the Oreos to school. Okay. Okay.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: So I'm Michelle. Hi, everyone.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Sorry, slightly awkward one, but could we maybe agree on
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: some basic rules around lunchboxes? Now, the other mums ended
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: up replying to Michelle asking if there was an issue
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: about allergies. And she said, No, nothing allergy related. Ava
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: came home really upset yesterday because one of the girls
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: had Oreos in her lunchbox. Now this is my part, Kate.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: I'm playing Charlotte here. So Charlotte, one of the other
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: mums said, oh, was she upset with a laughing face?
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: We don't allow that kind of thing at home. So
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: obviously she wanted them when she saw someone else eating them.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Oh, okay.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: I thought there had been an allergy issue or something,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: exclamation mark. No, exclamation mark. I just wondered if we
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: could all agree not to send things like Oreos, chocolate, candy, etc.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: so the kids aren't comparing lunches.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: I mean, I sent the Oreos.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Oh!
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Exclamation mark.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Would you mind maybe not sending them again?
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Why? With crying faces.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: Just because Ava.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Was really upset about it, I think it would be
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: easier if we were all consistent. I don't really think
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: we can control what everyone.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Else packs, though.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: I'm not trying to control anyone. I was just asking
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: everyone to be considerate. With respect, I'm not changing my
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: daughter's lunchbox because your daughter wants Oreos. Mic drop. Oh,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: can you imagine being the other mums in this group chat?
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously one of them's gone and leaked it
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: because they thought it was that salacious. I reckon they
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: were living for each ping of the message that popped up.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: But fuck, what's she going to say now? I can
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: imagine they'd be like to their partners, can you get
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: a load of this? Now, if you can believe it,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: the drama escalated from there. The following day, Michelle messaged
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: the group chat saying that her daughter had gotten upset
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: again because someone sent Oreos to school. I mean, compared
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: to some other things that you buy for kids' lunch boxes,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: it's a pretty cheap snack at the moment. I think
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: they're going out for two bucks. Now, it turns out
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: that Michelle wasn't very happy with the other mother's responses
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: because they weren't really taking her seriously. So she ended
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: up emailing the teacher at the school, asking if the
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: school could implement some consistency with snacks and She suggested
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: that the school sends parents an approved snack list.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: An email was.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Then sent out from the school that said, we encourage
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: families to choose healthy options where possible. However, what is
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: included in each child's lunchbox is ultimately at the.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Discretion of parents.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Oh God, how awkward for the teacher having to get
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: involved in this. Because she's trying to play both sides there,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: isn't she? By saying, look, we encourage healthy options. but
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: you can choose what you want. Well, a screenshot of
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: the message was actually popped into the mum's group chat
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: and there was a debate.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: About who was right.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: So each side felt validated and thought the teacher was
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: saying that they were correct. That teacher was really being Switzerland,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: weren't they? Oh, they were sitting on the fence completely. Now,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: a few days after the email went out from the school,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Michelle messaged the group chat again, asking whose daughter gave
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: her daughter Oreos. So it turns out the kids did.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: A lunchbox trade? And Ava finally got an Oreo. She
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: traded her yogurt for it. Now, Michelle wasn't happy and
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: she blamed the other mothers for not teaching their children
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: not to give other children their food without permission.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: What about her daughter who's begging for it?
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, Charlotte hit back saying, well, maybe you should
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: teach Ava not to trade her food with food she's
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: not allowed to have at home. Now, if you think
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: things couldn't get worse, it turns out that Michelle went
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: down to the school and she ended up accosting one
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: of the five-year-old involved in this situation, the one that
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: brings Oreos to school, and searched through her lunchbox to
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: see if she had Oreos in there. I'm surely like,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: as you're doing that, searching through a five-year-old's lunchbox in
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: the middle of the day, you realise that you're in
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: the wrong there. Maybe a little sugary biscuit isn't that
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: big of a deal. Well, the girl's mother, Charlotte, then said,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: like Michelle said, basically, what the fuck are you doing at.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: The school looking through my daughter's lunchbox?
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: And she tried to make excuses, but you could tell
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: she knew that this was the point where she really
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: couldn't excuse the behavior. Now, it resulted in Michelle asking
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: the teacher if her daughter Ava could be separated from
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the girl that eats Oreos at lunchtime.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Oh my God, this is absolutely insane.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: This is so sad because these little girls are clearly
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: friends and this mother is just getting involved in the situation. Now,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: as you can imagine, the comment section was hilarious. Now,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: one of the top comments was a suggested response to
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: Michelle in the group chat. So it read, Hey, Michelle,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: thanks for bringing this to the group's attention. I think
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: this is a perfect opportunity for you to help your
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: daughter build some emotional resilience and recognize that all households
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: function differently and that this is okay. Here is a
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: resource on emotional resilience to help you prepare for the conversation. Also,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: while your intent is not to control other mums in
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: the group, The impact is that we feel that this
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: is a controlling overreach. Us mums already juggle a lot
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: of mental load. So asking everyone to abide by your
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: home standard is too much.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: Good luck.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: And I hope your conversation is a positive one. Now
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: that comment got too 2.4 thousand likes. Now another popular
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: comment which got over 24.2 thousand likes was, Sorry, I'll
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: send extra so Ava can have some. That is classic.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: Someone else said the next day my kid would only
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: be bringing Oreos. I love the pettiness of all of this.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: I have an admission to make.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Obviously, after hearing the whole text exchange, I don't agree
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: with Michelle at all. I think she went about this
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: the completely wrong way. But I have to admit, when
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: I saw the headlines, there was a part of me
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: that was like, can you just not pack Oreos in
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: your kid's lunchbox? Like, could you just pack something healthy?
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Because growing up, our mum was a dental therapist and
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: we actually went to a primary school where they only
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: allowed healthy eating. It was a part of the rules. Like,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: we had a healthy canteen. I think you were allowed
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: to pack some treats, but within constraint. Like, it was
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: a bit frowned upon. I mean, our lunchbox every day
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: was an apple canteen. and a roll. But nowadays everyone's
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: got the bento boxes with all the different compartments. So
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: I think that a lot of parents feel this pressure
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: that they've got to fill them with lots of different things.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: So you're seeing parents putting sweet treats like gummy bears
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: or pretzels or whatever it may be. It's a bit
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: for the aesthetic, I think, because there's a lot of
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: parents that now share what they pack in their kid's lunchbox.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: And obviously the bento boxes look really aesthetically pleasing. And
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: you don't want to have an empty compartment on your
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: photo that's on your Instagram story. Like it just doesn't
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: look as aesthetically pleasing. Or your kid complaining, hey, there's
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: supposed to be something in there. Because I think that
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: would also happen quite a lot. So we've come from
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: a background where we grew up with our mum quite
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: anti-sugar because our mum didn't want us to get holes
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: in our teeth. And I have now taken that on
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: board with how I feed my son.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: So when I take him to kids.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Parties, I realise that I'm in the minority because everyone
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: else is letting their kids have cupcakes and lollies and chocolate.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: And fortunately, my son is at an age where he
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: doesn't ask for them, but I bring like a pre-packed lunch. Yeah,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: but that's because of your son's age, because there is
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: the general recommendation that kids shouldn't have sugar really until
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: they're over two. So I think that's your standpoint. We're
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: talking about kids' lunch boxes here, which is different. I
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: do have to embarrass our mum for a second. She
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: will absolutely hate me telling this story, particularly now that
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: she has become a teacher herself, because When we were
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: in Year 7, our Year 7 teacher, who's the biggest
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: legend ever, love him, he did this competition. So it
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: was called the Balloon Race. No, it was actually a
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: haiku competition.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: Oh, it was a haiku. Okay, sorry, I'm getting confused.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: It was a haiku competition, which you won, Kate. Humble
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: brag there, yep.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: And whoever won the competition received a can of Coke
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: and a Mars bar.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Now, you won. I was so excited.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: And... the teacher went to present you with the prize.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Well, I think I took it home. Well, yeah.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: I mean, why didn't you just eat it straight away?
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: But anyway, mom being the dental therapist, she complained and said,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: this is incredibly unhealthy. Could the prize instead be $ 2
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: to the healthy canteen? I don't think I even got
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: to drink the Coke or have the Mars bar. I
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: think I had to take it back. Yeah.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: You had to bring it back.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: But to this day, she's like, that is so rude
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: of me. Like now as a teacher, if someone did
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: that to me, it would be awful. I'm so embarrassed
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: by that. But I think there is something in parents
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: that just clicks about sugar or health. Well, the difficulty is, okay,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: so these kids involved are five. They're in reception and
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: this is the first time that this mother hasn't had
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: complete control over what her child's eaten. And it's putting
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: pressure on at home because this little girl's going, hang on,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: why is everyone else allowed to eat this and I'm not?
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, that's life.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: It's a real learning opportunity for her that life– isn't
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: fair I mean she she taught some lessons pretty quickly
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: that you trade you do it you do a little
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: swifty switch I mean I remember at school as you
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: said we I think was up until year three only
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: had an apple and a bread roll and a lot
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: of our friends would have chips or fruity picks bars
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: oh I remember those and they're not even that bad
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: for you but they you know we weren't allowed to
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: have them no okay you're forgetting one girl had the
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: most epic lunchbox ever she would have a marbled piece
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: of cake. She'd have something else homemade. Like she would
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: get all of the different things out. This was pre-bento box.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Her mum would have loved a fucking bento box. But
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: she always had a lot of sweet food. The Nutella
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: dippity things, whatever they were. They were kangaroos that you dip.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: And then there was just the straight sachet of Nutella
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: that will, again, beep her name out.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: Used to have.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: I remember literally in order to have a bite of
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: some of these kids' school lunch boxes, I would wait
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: in the canteen line.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: To get them something.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: If it was a hot day and the lion was
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: out the door, you'd be like, yeah, yeah, I'll get
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: you an ice cream if I can have a lick.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: One of the low points I remember was one of
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: our friends throwing chips on the ground and seeing if
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: we ate them like seagulls. And I think it was
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: at that point where our mum's like, look, I might
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: just give them a packet of chips. I still remember
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: being in year three and opening up my backpack and
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: mum had put a little post-it note on my lunchbox
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: that said, love mum.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: And it was a bag of like little bag of chips.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: I couldn't believe it.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: I remember that. But maybe this is also a lesson
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: to parents that even if you ban something, kids will find.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: A way to get it.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: Reflecting on our conversation, though, I can kind of see
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: why Michelle was asking for the school to maybe put
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: some measures in place in terms of like, oh, could
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: we just not send like chocolate and lollies?
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's the way she went about it. It's
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: not her right.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: To tell other parents what they can and cannot put
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: in their own kids.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: School lunchbox. Look, I know, I know she was completely
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: in the wrong.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: And at the moment, there are no nationally mandated rules
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: for what parents can pack their children for lunch. However,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: more and more schools are setting their own guidelines. So
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: there's a school in Melbourne called West Garth Primary School,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: and they say, we encourage healthy eating choices for recess
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: and lunchtime's. Chips and confectionery are not considered healthy food
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: options and are only allowed within reason or special occasions.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: I can kind of understand that because the teachers are
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: then having to deal with kids that have maybe eaten
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: a bunch of sugar and off the planet. Yeah, but
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: at the end of the day, this is one Oreo.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: You don't know what else is being packed in the
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: child's lunch box. She might have quite a balanced meal
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: in there and then the Oreo is a little treat.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: And I think where does it end?
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: What parents are going to write in saying, oh, please
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: don't buy your child the latest colourful pens because my
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: child only.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Has a pencil.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: In saying that, there's a reason why most schools have
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: school uniform. And that's because, you know, they don't want
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: kids having to have pressure to wear certain clothes and
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: compare different clothes.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: And there are a lot of countries.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: That actually do provide school dinners.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, that opens up a can of worms.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: We saw with Jamie Oliver, his school dinners project, I
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: think it was like 20 years ago, how bad that
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: food was.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: I don't think it's changed that much.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: And it's interesting to note that Australia is one of
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: the few high income countries that isn't a part of
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: the school meals coalition. So this is an alliance governments,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: including France, Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Italy have made the
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: aims to guarantee healthy school meals for all pupils by 2030.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Look at the end of the day though, this mother
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: has taken it too far. You can't control what other
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: kids eat. And by then going onto the school grounds
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: and scrounging through other kids' bags, she has crossed a line.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Her behavior is far worse than a parent sending Oreos
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: to school. But it's also shaming the other parents. If
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: that's their choice and they feel comfortable sending that as
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: a little treat for their kids, they should be allowed to. Well,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: how about this one for you? A similar vein. There's
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: a lot of debate about how much parents spend on
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: their kids at Christmas time, particularly the gifts that Santa gives.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: Because kids, again, go and compare. Would you be against
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: a reception class, an email going out in a mum's
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: group or the teacher saying, can we set a budget
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: that Santa spends this amount on kids? I do have
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: a problem with that because I think in Australia we're
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: pretty lucky that– there's a five-week period between when school
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: breaks up for Christmas and when you go back.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: By the time kids have gone back to school, no
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: one can even remember what they received for Christmas.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: I think this is more of a bigger issue in
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: the UK and America. But I just think that you
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: can't put parameters in place. Some families will find themselves
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: in better financial situations. Other families, unfortunately, won't be in
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: as good a situation. So if you say, oh, I mean,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: for those who aren't in as good of a financial situation,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: if you say, let's spend a hundred, some might not
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: be able to afford that either. Well, ultimately it's just
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: teaching the valuable lesson that you don't always get what
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: you want. And sometimes people are going to have things
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: that you would like or things that are better than you,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: and you actually have to build up some resilience and
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: get on with it. Well, it's like all these bullshit
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: participation awards at schools as well. You know, we've got
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: to get back to winning and And losing. Losing is
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: a very important.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Lesson in life.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: We can't all be winners.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: We can't all be good at everything.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: We can't all have lunchboxes with Oreos in them. No.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Don't you just love being a mother?
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Sometimes.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Not right now, but sometimes.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: What? An Australian TikToker has gone viral for asking their
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: followers what household lazy dinners they had growing up. Now,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: this made me feel really nostalgic thinking back to our
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: lazy dinners mum used to make us.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Mum will like hearing that.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: She is an avid listener of this podcast because often
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: we don't give her a great rap for her cooking.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: We actually started cooking for ourselves when we were 14
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: because we became vegetarian. Now we're desperate to have our
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: mums cooking on a Wednesday night and she does beautiful meals.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: It's funny because the meals she cooks now weren't in
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: her repertoire back in the day. Obviously, she has a
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: little bit more time now that we're not, you know,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: expecting her to do everything for us. Look, for people listening,
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Kate is often dubbed the most judgmental sister because you
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: are always like at family dinners that our mum puts on.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: You always seem to be having a go at her
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: like the taco shells aren't crispy enough.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: You can do it better.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: Well, out of everyone, I feel like Kate's the biggest
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: foodie in the sense of you're good at cooking. you
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: know about food look at you blowing smoke up her
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: ass I used to be Kate's sous chef as a
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: child because we used to quite often bake cakes after
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: school and I just get everything for her you not
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: boss me around a bit Hey, I don't want that
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: getting twisted.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: I just said that mum cooks beautiful meals.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: I love her tacos and her homemade pizzas.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: I said they're exceptional.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: But back in the day, obviously, when she's got triplets
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: to look after and is working and looking after a house,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: which we did nothing to help with, she was a
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: bit under the pump.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: A bit under the pump.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: That's probably like the most understated thing. Well, a few
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: meals popped up in my mind as mum's lazy meals.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: And they were the McCain's pizza, like the frozen pizza.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Wasn't it Papa Giuseppe's that we had?
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: It was Papa Giuseppe's. I'm so sorry.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: I am wrong. They were elite. But I often think, like,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: would it have just been cheaper to get, like, a
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: Domino's or something?
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: No, not back then. Not back then.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: I remember a girl from school, they used to get
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: the McCain's pizzas and they used to add their own toppings.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Now, that's too much effort. You don't want to be
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: adding to it. And also, does it not have that
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: much topping?
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Like, how much topping are they wanting on their pizza?
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: A lot, apparently.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: In that case, wouldn't you just buy your own pizza base? Well.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: You'd think.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: They're mum maxing there. Another lazy meal I can think
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: of is on a Friday night after netball, we'd always
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: have nachos. And people are probably cringing at my pronunciation
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: of that.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: I'm so sorry.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: That's another thing that we've grown up with our mum
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: mispronouncing some words. So we say nachos. I used to
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: think it was curry in a hurry. Until very recently, actually. Sophie,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: I pronounced nachos like that last week and Kate told
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: me not to include it. And I left it in
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: because Margot Robbie went viral for calling nachos nachos. And
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: I thought, if Margot Robbie says nachos.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Then we can. You're also rage baiting people as well.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: The lazy meal that sprung to my mind that mum
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: used to cook was eggs and bacon. Mm-hmm. Yes, a
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: lot of people on this viral TikTok were saying that
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: was their parents' go-to, as well as omelettes, and toasties
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: got a very high mention. You knew it was summer
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: when your mum pulled out that specific salad. Now, when
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: you think salad these days... you know, that you've got
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: all these fancy recipes with dressings and stuff. But I
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: don't actually remember ever being served salad with dressing except
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: pre-bought dressings. It was either Greek or Italian. I thought
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: you were talking about the potato salad where you buy
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: those baby potatoes in the can and then put mayonnaise
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: over the top with a bit of pepper. That was
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: one of mum's specialties as well. No, what I'm talking about,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: it was basically a deconstructed salad. So you'd have a
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: bit of boiled egg, you'd have a bit of beetroot,
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: there'd be lettuce and there'd be some like cold meats.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: And that was always served at least once a week Anyway,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: I thought that was a unique experience that we had,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: but apparently every millennial grew up on that as well.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right, Kate.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: This was a very common one in the comment section.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: I think what you're trying to describe is a cold
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: meat dinner, which includes meats, boiled eggs, and beetroot. So
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: it was just a random plate of assorted cold things because,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: you know, like your parents would freak out when it
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: was hot. It's like, Oh, we can only have the
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: air conditioner on in one room and we've all got
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: to sit in there and watch the fucking cricket.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: And eat this. And we can't eat anything hot. Yeah,
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: and eat this awful cold salad. You're forgetting the coleslaw
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: That's our dad's favourite, our mum's coleslaw. I hate coleslaw.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: What about in your household now?
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: What are some of your lazy go-tos when you don't
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: have much in the cupboard? Baked potatoes, I'd say. Oh, geez,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: baked potatoes.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: That's not a lazy meal.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: In my household, that's quite an involved meal. Ours is
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: pasta with pesto sauce and you add in- Like a
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: jar of sauce.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like a jar of sauce.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: And then you add in these little potatoes that come
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: in a can. So you put them- No, they're delicious.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: You put them in your air fryer and they crisp up.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: And also we do like the other night. Sorry, but
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: who eats fried potatoes with pasta? That sounds revolting.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: And some green beans. Dale got me on it. If
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: you want any quick meals, Dale is really good.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: He makes toasties and he will put two minute noodles
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: in them with baked beans. He swears they're delicious, but
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: I haven't tried them. Our lazy meal is generally a
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: potato rosti, which is actually quite elite because sometimes we'll
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: only have like potatoes left in the pantry and some eggs.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: Sounds like a mystery box on MasterChef. They're delicious. They're
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: so good.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure they're not very good for you.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: Another one is, and this probably sounds disgusting, but chickpea
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: tuna mornay. Oh, yes. So it's a good vego meal.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: The only annoying thing is you've got to shell all
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: of the chickpea. So it's actually not that lazy. Then
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: make a bit of a white sauce, add some corn.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: Absolutely delicious.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: I'm probably going to get in trouble for saying this
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: and you're going to call me a bitch and a snob,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: but I feel like your lazy meals are just takeaway,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: let's be honest.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Of course they are.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: I mean, our parents didn't have Uber Eats back in
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: the day. My laziest meal is usually a burrito bowl
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: from Zambreros. And the best thing is when you've got
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: the app, you can order exactly what you want. You
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: just go into the shop. It's ready to pick up.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: You don't have to have the back and forward with
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: the person working there. The thing I found awkward about that, though,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: is that sometimes you have to line up to actually
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: get the bag. All you do is you stand by
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: the cash register, I've been told. I'm sorry, for lazy meals,
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: that is way too involved. You're either getting Uber to
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: drop it off or the other day, this was another
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: night when Dale was out. I was like, I cannot
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: be fucked cooking for myself and there's no way I
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: can leave the house.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: I had a look at how much.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Uber actually costs when you don't have the membership because
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: I cancelled mine recently and it was astronomical. So I
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: ended up getting a Domino's pizza. And if you spend
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: over $ 20, I think delivery is like four bucks. And
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: I was like, that's what I'm going to do. I'm
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: saving money. It might not be as nutritious, but I've
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: been burnt by Domino's when they charged me the cost
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: of delivery for every single item that I'd ordered. The
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: thing is, it's quite funny because You literally make these
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: healthy meals from scratch for your kids and then you
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: have nothing to pour back into your own cup. Like
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: our son is eating like a king and then we're like, oh, fuck,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: what's the– easiest, cheapest takeaway we can get. Have you
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: seen those TikToks that are like, just feed the child
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: what you're eating? And then it's like, well, I can't
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: really give my child a Red Bull and a packet
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: of burger rings. I see. I'm interested to know from
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: the mum's group, when did you actually start feeding your
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: child the same meals you eat? Because my son, as
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: I've mentioned, is a little bit over two and everyone
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: says when they're one, you're supposed to start feeding them
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: what you eat. But I don't want to be giving
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: them all the salt and the sugars and stuff. Well,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: the difficulty with me is in my household because I'm
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: vegetarian and my husband hates vegetarian foods, hates a vegetable.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: He literally is from the country, loves just a bit
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: of steak, chicken, whatever it is. So we have different meals,
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: which makes it very difficult. Wouldn't it be great because
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: you can do a mixture. Luca can have some veggie
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: stuff and a bit of meat. True. And also, fun fact,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: your husband has never tried dip. And D-I-P, by the way,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: because dip can sound different in audio. He's never had
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: dip before.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: I'm glad you pointed that out.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: It just blows my mind though, because our mum, every
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: family dinner, we'll try and offer Brandon some dip and biscuits.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: And he's like, there's no excuse for that. As in,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: in the country, there of course is dip. I mean, in,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: you know, he didn't have sushi because it wasn't sushi
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: readily available. They didn't have a McDonald's, but.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think he's just likes simple flavors. I
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: actually reckon he.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: Would love dip if he tried it. Does he eat salsa?
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: No.
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: No, of course he doesn't. That's too spicy for him. Wait,
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: has he had nachos before? Yes, he's had nachos. Well,
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: that's got salsa on it. But that's a nachos topping.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: It's not a salsa.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: Yes, it is. Well, I think if we continue to
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: list all the foods your husband doesn't eat, we might
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: be here for quite a while.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: So we'll wrap things up there.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: He's an avid listener of the Mums group, so let's
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: be kind. He would be the first person to admit
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: he doesn't eat many adventurous things. No. Anyway, this podcast
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: was recorded on the traditional land of the Kaurna people
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: of the Adelaide Plains. We pay respect to elders past
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: and present.